VA warns veterans about anti-smoking drug

LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press

Published 5:30 am, Thursday, June 19, 2008

WASHINGTON — The Veterans Affairs Department is sending letters to about 33,000 veterans who are taking the anti-smoking drug Chantix, warning them about possible side effects, including thoughts of suicide.

VA Secretary James Peake told reporters in a conference call Thursday that agency doctors will continue to prescribe the drug because they are seeing no serious problems or trends with its use.

He defended the VA's use of the drug to treat some of the veterans with stress disorders who were participating in a study to stop smoking. Of the 143 veterans with post traumatic stress disorder who took Chantix in the study, he said that three — or 2 percent — experienced thoughts of suicide. Of the roughly 800 veterans in the study who did not take Chantix, 35 had suicidal thoughts — or about 4.4 percent, he said.

The letter going out to the veterans Thursday urges anyone who is experiencing side effects or is worried about continuing to use the drug, to consult with their doctor.

"This is a very important drug for our clinicians to be able to use when appropriate for patients," Peake said, adding that if VA officials thought that using the drug was hurting veterans, they would stop immediately.

Reports this week raised concerns that the VA may not have told patients in the study about the side effects of the drug quickly enough.

According to the VA, the PTSD and smoking cessation study was aimed at determining whether it is easier to stop smoking when smoking cessation treatment is combined with PTSD therapy, or whether the two therapies are more effective if they are provided separately.